


Pudge the Pidove

by ChaztheEpic



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 16:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaztheEpic/pseuds/ChaztheEpic
Summary: A runaway child tries to make ends meet.





	Pudge the Pidove

_ Thump, thump thump. _ The coarse sound of a steel-toed boot impacting tree bark reverberated throughout the grove. The little girl the boot was attached to had her eyes fixed squarely on her prize; a pristine apple that hung on the tree by its stem. It swayed to and fro as the tree shook from the impact, but it did not fall. The girl ceased her assault, and crossed her arms in a huff. She breathed heavily from the exertion; sweat dampening the outside of her white shirt. She absentmindedly fiddled with the straps on her overalls as she pondered her dilemma. If brute force isn't going to work, she’d have to come up with another way to get to that apple. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She backed up several paces, and then leapt at the tree! Grabbing the bottom most branch, she slowly but surely worked her way up to her lunch.

Upon reaching the correct branch, she found herself in another dilemma. Her little kid arms were not up to the task of reaching to the end of the branch. She gave the branch another shake; no dice. The apple was stuck fast.

“Stupid tree,” she mumbled.

Carefully, she shifted from her sitting position on the branch to rise up on two feet. Arms out to keep her balance, she wobbled to and fro until she reached an equilibrium. Her legs tensed up, and released as she sprung from her perch on the tree, grabbing the apple on her way down! Success, at last!

...or so she thought. Her grip slipped, and she saw the apple fly far into the sky before she landed on the ground with a  _ thunk. _ She hissed as pain erupted from her back, alongside the frustration of losing the apple. Suddenly, she heard a loud squawk. Followed by a chorus of other squawks, and the sound of wings flapping. She sat up suddenly, and saw her unintended victim: a squad of four Pidove, one with bright red fruit splattered all over its plumage.

She jumped to her feet and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, but she was no match for the birds. They were upon her in an instant. She felt feathers whipping her cheeks as she ran, and felt the hard beaks of the birds stabbing into her back. She flailed her arms helplessly at the cloud of feathers and beaks, hoping for a lucky shot. But it was no use. The birds were merciless. Through the tears, she saw the fruit-spattered bird fly out in front and flip around for a high-speed attack. As it swooped down, the girl jumped up in an attempt to avoid the attack. The bird’s eyes grew wide as it tried to brake, but it was already too late. The girl Body Slammed the poor Pokemon into the ground. The other birds, seeing this, blanched and fled, leaving their friend behind. 

The girl could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she hit the ground for the second time. What she didn’t expect, however, was the quiet. Cautiously, she raised her head and looked around. The forest was quiet once more, except for the occasional chirp of some bug Pokemon. And… muffed groaning? She looked down at her chest, and then squealed as she knocked the bird away, fearing another attack. But none came. She watched the bird closely, and saw its apple-encrusted chest rising and falling. She relaxed, thanking her lucky stars that her journey didn’t end before it had even began. Then, she got back up and walked over to the injured bird, producing some twine from her overalls pocket. Maybe she would get her lunch yet.

\--

Pidove awoke sometime later. He felt sticky, and ached all over. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a makeshift campsite. The sky was filled with the vibrant colors of sunset, and there was a pot of water boiling over a fire. A quaint little hovel, but it didn’t matter to Pidove. He needed to get into the air and find his friends. He tried to spread his wings, and found that they wouldn’t budge. Looking down, he saw a thin cord wrapping around him, restricting his movement. His feet, too, were hogtied. His small little bird brain immediately went into panic mode, flailing around and squawking in an attempt to loosen his bonds, but to no avail.

“Oh shoot, it woke up.” The girl reappeared, firewood in hand. She dumped the wood at her feet, and pulled out a pocket knife. Pidove saw the metallic edge gleaming menacingly, and went absolutely berserk. Dust went flying everywhere as the trapped Pokemon tried to free itself as its captor approached. Some of the dust got in the girl’s eyes, causing her to recoil back momentarily. She swore and put her arm over her face to shield herself from the dust.

“Hold still you dumb bird!” She shouted as she grabbed his neck and forced him to be still. Pidove braced itself, expecting the worst.

_Snip_ _snip snip_

The pressure against Pidove’s wings abated, suddenly. So too, did the force constricting his talons. Pidove stole a glance at the human as she put the knife away and kept watching as she slowly relaxed her grip, and then moved away entirely, hands raised. Pidove rose unsteadily to its feet, and cocked its head curiously.

“Look, I’m sorry about hitting you with an apple. That was my bad. Next time I’m just gonna go dumpster diving again. You… need to get back to your friends, right?”

Pidove did not understand the literal meaning of the girl’s words, but he understood the intent. He gave an affirmatory chirp. Yes, he did want to get back to his friends. The girl’s cautious look turned to one of regret as she continued.

“That’s what I was afraid of. My, uh, ‘pops’ taught me a lot about bird Pokemon. I know they like to move often. And that’s just what they did. I don’t know where your friends are now, but I sure didn’t see them in the apple grove.”

Pidove didn’t know how to process this information. He was born in that flock, and had known them ever since he’d hatched from his Egg. He couldn’t accept this. He shook his head and steeled himself before raising his wings to take off. Then, the girl shouted.

“Wait!”

Pidove lowered his wings, but kept them spread, looking at the girl.

“You’ll just exhaust yourself if you head out there now.” She pointed at what was left of the sun. It was only a sliver on the horizon. “If you help me gather some supplies, I can make food for the both of us. Then we can go out and look for your friends tomorrow. It’s the least I can do.”

Pidove folded his wings back and considered the offer. He’d never flown extensively at night before, and there were the stories about terrors that fed on chicks in the dead of night…

Pidove shivered and looked back up at the girl. Mind made up, he dipped his head to show his cooperation. The girl’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she scooped up Pidove in a hug.

“Oh thank you, Pidove!” she exclaimed, twirling him around like some kind of toy. He shrieked loudly, demanding to be put down. She sheepishly put him back on the ground.

“Okay, no hugs. Got it. We have no time to waste on mushy stuff anyway. I need two apples, three leeks, and a large Tomato berry. Think you can handle that?”

She looked down at him expectantly. He puffed out his chest and gave an affirmatory chirp. She laughed.

“Alright. One last thing before you go.” She extended a hand towards Pidove. “My name’s Ruby. And I’m gonna call you Pudge. Put ‘er there!”

The newly-christened Pudge cocked his head curiously at the outstretched hand, unsure. He extended a wing, and the human grabbed it and shook it (and him) up and down.

“Now get going! Daylight’s nearly gone!”

Pudge chirped again in affirmation and sailed up and over the treetops, keen eyes open for the ingredients. Ruby sat down and breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her new friend sail out of sight. Maybe her journey wasn’t such a disaster after all.


End file.
